Like a House on Fire (in the middle of the Arctic)
by FromDustReturned
Summary: Iduna walks into the nursary, only to find Gerda drying off a soaking wet Anna and attempting to comfort a sobbing Elsa. Apparently, Anna's hair had caught fire and Elsa, panicking, had frozen her in a block of ice. The ice had melted in record time, leaving a bewildered baby and a terrified toddler. Needless to say, things got off to a rocky start. AU, one-shot. Enjoy!


There was a squeal of "Fire!" and a shout of "No, Anna!" before there was a soft his and a disappointed sigh.

Agnar put his head in his hands, and didn't move. Two years ago, he would have jumped to his feet and run from the room, frantically searching for the source of the noise, but now… why even bother? Iduna sent him a look from across the table, but likewise did nothing. There was nothing they could do.

When Elsa had been born, her magic had been worrisome. No one knew what to do when her cradle froze over, or when the milk in her bottle turned to ice, leaving a desperate nursemaid and a screaming child. As she had grown, however, they had learned to take everything in stride, explaining to the girl as soon as possible what the consequences of misusing her powers would be. She would be given a time out, and no dessert for three days. There were still accidents, of course, but that had always been expected, and at seven years old Elsa had become a sweet and lovable child. Her powers had grown with age, and she loved showing off what she could do, creating snow creatures in the gardens or helping the cooks make a special dessert of ice cream for her family. Agnar had always loved Elsa, and he had realized not too long ago that he loved her magic too, and was no longer afraid.

When Anna had been born, no one knew what to expect. At first she had seemed normal, and everyone had let out a sigh of relief. Then, at two days old, she had gotten a fever. It had slowly risen for the next three days, during which time Agnar had comforted a distraught Iduna and a scared Elsa, and wondered what he would do if Anna died. He never found out, because on the fourth day Anna's blanket had caught fire, and chaos had resumed as normal. The baby didn't have a fever, nor had she ever had one. She had magic. They had attempted to keep their daughters separate at first, fearing that Elsa would be burned out of her little sister's lack of control, but the confinement had lasted only a month. Elsa, it turned out, was rather resourceful, and by no means stupid, even at the young age of three and a half. Iduna had walked into the room, only to find Gerda drying off a soaking wet Anna, at the same time attempting to comfort a sobbing Elsa. Apparently, Anna's hair had caught fire and Elsa, panicking, had frozen her in a block of ice. The ice had melted in record time, leaving a bewildered baby and a terrified toddler.

Needless to say, the girls had gotten off to a rocky start.

Four years later, however, any misgivings about how they would get along had been long since forgotten. The princesses were attached at the hip, and one was never found without the other near by.

* * *

"But _why_, Elsa? You can do your magic, why can't I do mine?"

"You can do it, Anna, just not _inside_. I'm not allowed to do magic inside either, and now we'll both get in trouble." Elsa frowned unhappily at the wet scorch mark on the floor, trying to decide how best to cover it up. Maybe if they just shifted the rug over…

"You like it when I make things warm in winter!" Anna had her arms crossed, and looked like she was deciding whether or not it would be worth it to throw a fit.

"Yes, but it's summer now, and no one wants to be more hot than they already are. Don't look so upset, we can go play outside if you want." Elsa looked across the hall, and suddenly had an idea. It was a naughty idea, but she was sure it would be fun. Leaning over, she grabbed Anna's hand and started dragging her towards the window.

"I can be upset if I want to." Anna mumbled, but she didn't sound very convinced. Not one to be dragged, she quickly sped up so that they were walking side by side, keeping her hand firmly in Elsa's.

When they got to the window, Elsa knelt down and held her hands out to Anna. "You have to get up on my shoulders," she said, "So we can open the window."

Realizing that what they were about to do wasn't exactly allowed, Anna eagerly scrambled up, holding onto the wall for balance as Elsa stumbled to her feet. Once steady, she moved over to the window and Anna reached up with practiced ease, flipping the latch and giving the windows a push outwards. Laughing, she tapped the top of Elsa's head and said "Ready! Now what?"

"Now," Elsa said, bending down so that Anna could dismount, "we do the magic!"

"But we're still inside!"

"No, not if we do this." Elsa bent over the window sill and extended her hand outward, letting a flurry of snowflakes blow away in the wind. Anna let out a giggle and immediately demanded a step stool, so that she could do it too.

It took a few tries, but finally a decent stool was made of ice, and Anna climbed up and onto the window ledge before it could melt. Then, leaning forward, she let out a shriek of delight and tossed a ball of fire into the air. Elsa's hand darted out to latch onto Anna's skirt, to make sure she didn't fall, but then she too was leaning out the window, grinning at the sky.

"Let there be snow!" Elsa yelled, and tossed a handful into the air.

"Fire!" Anna cried, and melted the snow with a burst of flames.

"Ice!"

"Fire!"

"Ice!"

"Fire!"

"Ice! Stop it Anna, you're ruining my snow."

* * *

Things had been suspiciously quite in the next room, and Agnar looked up to catch Iduna watching him again with a worried expression on her face.

"Do you suppose they're alright?" She asked, glancing at the door. There wasn't any smoke, and the temperature hadn't dropped significantly in the past two minutes. One could never be sure, however.

"I'm sure they're fine. They've probably gone off to read a book." At least, that was what Agnar hoped. It was a slim hope, and didn't last very long.

"Ice!" Elsa's voice floated through the window.

"Fire!" There was a flash of orange light, and Agnar's head dropped to the table, a groan escaping. He rose reluctantly to his feet, catching an unsympathetic look from his wife.

"Elsa and Anna need to learn the appropriate times and places for their gifts." She said, and pinned him with a stare. "I thought you said they understood?"

"They do," Agnar hurried to assure her, "it seems they've just… found a loophole." He reached up to rub his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"Those girls are going to tear this place apart."

Iduna hummed in agreement, unconcerned.

"They're going to tear the world apart."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! please R&R :)**


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